Category Archives: American beers

The Myth of the Authentic IPA

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From an advertisement for Whitbread IPA, 1935.

From an advertisement for Whitbread IPA, 1935.PA

Modern beer historians have done some wonderful work challenging myths about India Pale Ale. The one we’re interested right now is this, as expressed by Martyn Cornell in a post which then demolishes it:

North American craft brewers more closely adhere to early IPA specifications than do British brewers who, as a group, do not.

How did that belief arise? What was going on in the world of beer to convince everyone (including us) that, if a beer wasn’t strong and aromatic, it wasn’t a ‘real’ IPA? Here are four possible contributions to the development of that myth.

1. The Durden Park Beer Circle published, Old British Beers and How to Make Them, an influential collection of historic recipes, in 1976. We haven’t got our hands on an original edition but our 2003 reprint contains this on Hodgson’s India Pale Ale

…had an OG over 70, a hop rate of 2.5 oz per gallon… [and was] carefully primed and dry hopped before despatch to India. Fully matured by the tropical heat, India ale had a hop nose, full flavour and the luscious taste that only comes with an initially over-hopped ale that has fully matured.

2. Anchor Liberty, first brewed in 1975 using tons of the then new Cascade hop, was ‘inspired’ by the British practice of dry hopping, and its strength was similar to that of early nineteenth-century British IPAs. The brewery was old; their Steam Beer was a survivor of an earlier age; the beer had a faux-vintage label; and was brewed to commemorate American independence. All of that, perhaps, added up to a sense of historical authenticity it didn’t exactly deserve.

3. Though he barely mentioned IPA in his 1977 World Guide to Beer, Michael ‘Beer Hunter’ Jackson’s 1982 Pocket Guide (the one most people we’ve spoken to actually owned, because it was smaller and cheaper) describes the intensely bitter, hop-aromatic Ballantine’s IPA as a survivor of an earlier age of American brewing, descended from nineteenth-century British beers. It’s easy to see how this might have developed into the myth of the ‘more authentic American IPA’.

4. In 1993, at the request of Mark Dorber of the White Horse in West London, Bass brewed an IPA to a historic recipe. It was c.6.5% ABV with 84 units of bitterness, according to a contemporary Guardian article by Roger Protz (4/9/1993): ‘it’s like putting your head inside a sack of hops fresh from Kent. The aroma is pungent, spicy, peppery and resiny, and the hops dominate the palate and the finish as well.’

5. The excitement around the recreated Bass IPA, and the White Horse festival it was brewed for, triggered a brief historical IPA mania. Robin Young of The Times described IPAs brewed to nineteenth-century recipes as ‘the special fad’ of the 1994 Great British Beer Festival; and the 1995 Good Beer Guide reports on the preceding year’s ‘IPA fever’. The emphasis in most reports was on the authenticity and hop ‘oomph’ of these brews compared to supposedly ‘bowdlerized’ modern IPAs.

Anyone else have any suggestions? Is there a c.1980 US home brewing text, perhaps, that makes the claim?

‘World Beer’ in the UK: a timeline

Pete's Wicked Ale -- label detail.

This is a work in progress which overlaps with an earlier, more general timeline, and we’re still corresponding with a few ‘insiders’ who should be able to help us fill in gaps.

What seems obvious already, however, is how slowly foreign beer made its way into the UK market over the course of decades (you had to like Chimay Rouge or Anchor Steam) and how sudden the rush of the last ten years seems by comparison.

Is all the ‘Urquell and Chimay aren’t what they used to be’ talk partly a result of those beers having been here the longest? Familiarity breeding contempt?

And is Cooper’s Sparkling Ale even remotely as cool now as it was in 2002?

1955 ‘World lagers’ widely available (German, Danish); Pilsner Urquell; Maerzen, bock, Oktoberfestbier in some outlets; strong foreign stouts on order. According to Andrew Campbell in The Book of Beer, Tuborg imperial stout could be ‘got in’ by specialist off-licences such as the Vintage House in Old Compton Street.The Pilsner Urquell company had an office in Mark Lane, London EC3, in 1968.
1968 Becky’s Dive Bar: 200+ bottled beers. Lots of ‘world lager’, but basically anything ‘foreign’ she could get her hands on.
August 1974 World Beer Festival, Olympia, London Mostly ‘international pilsner’, but also EKU strong lager from Germany.
November 1974 Chimay (Rouge?) becomes regular UK import. Through off-licence chain Arthur Rackham.
1975 Cooper’s Sparkling Ale from Australia available. Mentioned by Richard Boston in a list of desert island beers, alongside Chimay.
1977 Michael Jackson’s World Guide to Beer. We’re still assessing the impact of this book. Thesis: didn’t sell many copies, but everyone who bought one opened a brewery, import company, pub or bar; or became a beer writer themselves.
1979 Anchor Steam, Duvel available at CAMRA Great British Beer Festival. Hugely expensive: £1.65 for ‘third of a pint’ bottle of Anchor Steam, while British ales were at 35p a pint.
1979 and 1980  Cave Direct and James Clay founded. (We’re still assessing the significance of this.)
c.1980 Chimay Rouge in pubs. E.g. The White Horse, Hertford. (Thanks, Des!)
c.1982 Pitfield Beer Shop opens. By 1988 at the latest, selling Liefmann’s Kriek, Samichlaus,
1988 Hoegaarden arrives. Listed by Roger Protz in his pick of the year.
1989 Liefmann’s Frambozen available. 1989 article lists it among speciality beers at Grog Blossom off licence, Notting Hill, West London.
1990 Brooklyn Lager arrives. Available only in Harrods!
1991 Crazy for bottled ‘designer beer’ takes hold. Mostly ‘world lager’, but Daily Mirror lists Chimay Blue, Judas and other Belgian beers. Also, Pinkus Alt.
1992 Belgos opens in London. Tipped by stock pundits as a good investment.
1993 Hoegaarden in Whitbread pubs.Anchor Liberty Ale available.

German wheat beers slated as ‘next big thing’.

 Mainstreaming of ‘world beer’? 

Cascade hops start to be talked about.
1994-95 Several lengthy articles in the UK press about the ‘explosion’ of US craft brewing.
1995 Thresher off-licences run full-page newspaper ads for their ‘world beer’ list. Early use of the term ‘world beer’ in this particular way; more ‘mainstreaming’.
1996 Pete’s Wicked Ale (US) in Tesco stores. Big time mainstreaming!
1998 Belgian beer bar craze.Hogshead pubs (Cambridge, Manchester, Aberdeen) offering large ranges of Belgian beer. L’Abbaye, Charterhouse St, London, offering 28 Belgian beers, including Westmalle, Rochefort, Orval.

Memorable Beers #1: Goose Island IPA

We first tried Goose Island IPA in the Rake, probably around Christmas of 2006.

We never spend Christmas together but have always compensated with a sort of ‘office Christmas do’ a week or so before. When we lived in London, that usually meant taking a day off work, Christmas shopping for as long as we could bear it, and then chasing beer from midday onwards.

Borough Market is like the set of a Dickens adaptation at Christmas: roasting chestnuts, carols and mulled wine on the air. Expensive apples.

Were we just in a ‘peace on Earth and goodwill to all beers’ kind of mood, or was drinking that IPA really like tasting in Technicolor? We said wow a lot and marvelled at its slight haze. We may even have giggled with excitement. We declared it our favourite beer for some time thereafter.

These days, though we still enjoy it, we find GI IPA muted and too full of crystal malt — not Seville orange marmalade so much as seaside fudge.

If we write another fifty or so posts in the next twenty-five days, we’ll hit 1000 by the time we hit our fifth anniversary of blogging; as that date approaches, we are also feeling nostalgic. Hence this series. Yeah, we like round numbers — sue us.

Mexican food, American beer

Tortilla, a London-based chain of burrito cafes, have started selling some decent American beer — Goose Island IPA, Brooklyn lager, Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

I’m a fan of their places anyway (the Market Place outlet round the corner from Oxford Circus is a good place to refuel if you want something quick, not too dirty and cheapish) and so this has me quite excited. Brooklyn lager is a lovely accompaniment to fiery beans and rice.

What’s more, it’s refreshing to see somewhere like this understanding the need for good beer, rather than just beer that goes with the Mexican theme.  (Though you can still get Corona, Dos Equiis and so on.)

It’s also exciting because we know from reading blogs that many people have got into good beer (including cask ale) through one of these consistently good American bestsellers.

We’ve blogged before about how Brooklyn should be perfect for the London market, with its cool packaging and, more importantly, distinct and full flavour. We’re definitely seeing it a lot more in pubs, clubs and off-licences, which can only be a good thing for promoting quality beer in general.

Would they be flattered?

Train journeys have certainly improved since the arrival of the Sheffield Tap and other takeaway beer places at some of Britain’s train stations.

A recent trip was enlivened by bottles of Sierra Nevada Torpedo, a delicious American IPA which is a favourite of Rake manager Glyn’s, and Goose Island Matilda.

The latter is the Chicago brewery’s attempt at a Belgian-style ale. They’d apparently like us to drink it from a “wide mouthed goblet” but, on a train, you have to make do with a little plastic glass.

On this showing, we’d say that it tastes really, really similar to Leffe Blonde, if perhaps a touch more bitter. Would Goose Island be flattered by that comparison? Probably not, though we don’t mean it as a criticism. (We’re quite partial to the odd glass of Leffe, despite its ubiquity and Big Industrial Brewing pedigree.)

Every beer gets a second chance

Both variants of the Brooklyn/Schneider Hopfen Weisse in their beautifully designed bottles

We hated Schneider Hopfenweisse when we tried it a couple of years ago and I almost turned my nose up when offered it on draft at the Devonshire cat, Sheffield. Nonetheless, I got my half (a mere £2.80…) and gave it another go.

It’s always a good idea to give a beer a second chance. Wowzers, Penny. I take it all back. It’s wonderful.

It’s like a turbo charged wheatbeer with crisp, almost tangible hops; bubblegum cut with grapefruit. Truly extreme and fabulous for it. Oddly, the German-American parentage gives this a very Belgian aroma (booze + spice) which really adds to the pleasure.

Boak

Superbowl sundae

We thought an ice cream beer float sounded like a good idea and others (notably Mark Dredge and Zak Avery) have raved about it.

As I was staying up to watch the Superbowl, I thought I’d give it a go with two of my favourite American imports, Brooklyn Chocolate Stout and Ben & Jerry’s.

And, do you know what? It was horrid.

The lovely dark chocolate roastiness of the beer became metallic and cheesy. The two ingredients cancelled each other out.

I had to pour it away.

Boak

Don't leave that!

We took a six pack of Anchor Christmas Beer to a family do just before Christmas, knowing that the host was keen on beer.

We then watched with dismay as a grumpy uncle poured a bottle into a glass and spent the next hour ignoring it while he read the paper. When he left, it was more-or-less untouched and had gone flat. Could he not have ignored a cheaper, less interesting beer instead?

Overheard at the Rake

“Have you got a nice stout?”
“Well, there’s the Dark Star, but that’s 10.5%. How about Anchor Porter?”

“Have you got anything south American?”
“Er…. Quilmes?”

“We want some sour beers. Have you got anything by Cantillon?”
“Yes, but it’s about £8 a bottle.”
“That’s fine. One bottle, two glasses, please!”

“Why are you having a lager again, mate?”
“Coz I want something cold and refreshing, with bubbles, that doesn’t make me feel like my Dad.”
“Goose Island IPA is cold and refreshing, and your dad wouldn’t like that.”
“Stop trying to make me drink your old man beers.”

“How long would you keep a barley wine for, in the cask?”
“Well, we keep ours for up to six years, but you could definitely keep it longer, if it was filled properly.”
“Oh, I know our filling techniques, and they introduce way too much oxygen.”

“What do you have that’s a normal strength and comes in a normal pint glass?”

Whilst eavesdropping, we also worked our way through a few beers, including Sierra Nevada Unrivaled, a rye beer with a hint of smoke that actually tasted how we’ve always imagined rye beer ought to. It’s a late contender for beer of the year — very complex and utterly delicious, with citrus hops and fruity, nutty, spicy flavours, too.

Doggie Style delivered an American style IPA (heavy body, lots of hops) at only 4.7%. It’s yer actual session beer, that.

Goose island Christmas Ale (7%) was a final treat. It was £9.50 for a large bottle. It was like malty golden syrup with a touch of orange. Nice, but not as nice as something like 1845. We wonder if some complexity got lost on the Atlantic crossing?

Bowling and American Beer in London

allstarlanes

There are now several trendy bowling places in London, following the success of Bloomsbury Lanes which opened a few years back.

On Friday, we went with a bunch of mates to All Star Lanes, also in Bloomsbury/Holborn, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the beer on offer.

We’re huge fans of Brooklyn Lager, so we had a couple of those. We also tried Sierra Nevada Summerfest (Beer Nut’s not convinced; we weren’t impressed either) and finished with our beer of the week, Anchor Liberty Ale. We were also pleased to see Sierra Nevade Pale Ale and Brooklyn Chocolate Stout on the menu. All were priced at around £4 a bottle.

Sadly, but understandably, most people there were going for the cheaper option: a bucket of Coors Light.

There are also exciting looking cocktails, milkshakes and ice cream floats. Would a Brooklyn Chocolate Stout ice-cream float work? We’re sure Mark will get round to trying that soon, at any rate.